Shoe-stiffener



CHARLES E. SWE'1'1, OF BOSTON,

MA$ACHUSETTS, ASIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HARRY H. BECKWITH, OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE-STIFFENER.

No Drawing.

4 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I CHARLEs citizen of the United. tates, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented ful Improvements in Shoe Stifleners, of which the following is a specification.

E. Swn'rr, a

This invention has relation to shoe stifi"- eners so-called; that is, a blank of suitable rous material treated with a stiffening agent, which under the desired conditions may be rendered soft and flexible so that the blank may be molded to the shape of the last in the lasting of the shoe. Such stiffening'blanks may be used either for stiffening the toe shoe as desired.

The present invention has for its object to rovide a shoe stiffener which is not softened y heat, but which can by the employment of a suitable solvent, be rendered limp and flexible so as to enable it to be molded, and then set rapidly in its molded shape.

It has heretofore been proposed to form such stiffeners of a fibrous body impregnated with shellac, and subsequently to soften the blank by the use of alcohol or other suitable solvent. The use of the shellac, however, has its disadvantages, first in that the shellac imparts its own color to or the heel portion of the the fibrous .body with which it 'is impregnated or with which it is coated, and moreover shellac is softened by a relatively low degree of heat. Consequently shoes provided with shellac-stiffened blanks do not always keep their proper shape especially where they are subjected to both heat and pressure.

In accordance with the present invention, I have provided a stiflened blank which has certain decided advantages, namely, in that it is not affected by heat, and save for the color of the fibrous material is colorlessso Specification of Letters Patent.

new and use esses. commercial alcohol but is water-insoluble; it does not melt by heat, and its combustibility is low. When a suitable alcoholic solution of zein is evaporated, there results a film of considerable resiliency and which is practically colorless. V, This film may be softened without solution by dipping it in alcohol diluted to contain approximately 50% of water or thereabout, or with other decreasing the prnportion of zein in the alsheet thus formed is cut coholic solution. into blanks of suitable shape so as to serve either as a toe box or a counter stiffener, and then may be skived as desired, the impregnation of the sheet with zein making it easy for the skiving operation'to be performed.

In practice,.the stifl'ened and skived blank Patented Aug. 10, 1920. Application filed November 11, 1919. Serial No. 337,209.

This stiffening agent is soluble in is assembled with the upper and is softened by di ping it in a suitable softening agent, such or example as a mixture of equal parts of alcohol and water, which softens but does not dissolve the zein. The upper is then placed upon the last, together with the innersole or the bottom portion of the shoe, and the upper is lasted, the stiflfener being thereby molded to the shape of the last with which it comes in contact. The partially formed shoe is then permitted to stand until the stiffening agent sets so as to retain the blank in its molded shape. In its softened condition, zein is adhesive so that the blank adheres to the layers of the upper with which it comes in contact but without suflicientl penetrating the same so as to effect any spective of the thinness or delicate color of the shoe upper. 1

Instead of completely impregnating-the fibrous body with the zein solution, it may be s read thereon in a more or less doughy con ition. To produce the zein in this form, after it has been dissolved in alcohol,

scoloration thereof irreit may be (precipitated in a dough-like mass by the ad ition to the solution of relatively large amounts of water, ether, benzin or other precipitating agent. When the zein is in this doughy condition, it may be spread like paste upon the fibrous body, which it partially impregnates, and, when free from solvent by the evaporation thereof, becomes a relatively hard massswhich is porous in structure. After the fibrous body has thus been treated with pasty or dough-like zein and has been dried, the blank is treated with a mixture of alcohol and water to soften it, whereupon on drying it forms into a coherent thick homogeneous and solid state. some cases, after the sheet has been treated with the pasty or dough-like mass of zein vand has been dried, an additional coating of zein in solution may be applied thereto or to the opposite face of the sheet to form a smooth film thereon.

Zein, either in solution or as a dough-like mass, may be colored by the addition thereto of a suitable pigment, such for example as zinc white, or dyes such as those which are soluble in alcohol.

A molded .too box or counter stiffener,

formed as herein described, is stiff and re-;

silient, is not softened by heat, and possesses other optimum characteristics of a shoe stiffener. Shouldthe stiffener be too stiff or brittle in any given case, previous to its application to the fibrous body, the zein may be tempered by oils such as are soluble in alcohol, 6. g. castor oil or liquid fatty acids.

What I claim is 1. A shoe stiffener comprising a fibrous body and a stiffening agent consisting of zein.

2. A shoe stiffener comprising a fibrous body and a stiffening agent consisting of a porous mass of zein more or less impregnating such fibrous body.

3. The herein described method of making a counter stiifener which comprises treating a fibrous body with zein.

The herein described process of making a' shoe stiffener which consists in treating a fibrous body with a pasty or doughlike mass of zein.

x5. The herein described process of making counter stiffeners which consists in impregnating a fibrous body with zein softened or dissolved in a suitable solvent.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

CHARLES E. SWETT. 

